JLC Reverso Duo Hands-on Review
Watchuwant is now WatchBox! Subscribe for the best luxury watch content.
The Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duo is a modern masterpiece. Since the first double-dial dual time Reverso bowed in 1994, the twin time Reverso has become the definitive model in Jaeger-LeCoultre’s 83 year-old evergreen Reverso lineup.
And why not? Take a reversible watch, add a second dial, and back it with an in-house Jaeger-LeCoultre caliber 854; the result is a dual time watch that puts a new time zone at the tip of one’s fingers. As a true manufacture, Jaeger-LeCoultre designed this 180-component, 21-jewel shaped movement specifically to fit the 42mm Reverso “Grande Taille” case.
Few rival watchmakers are able to design such a complex assembly, much less tailor it to suit…
This stainless steel Reverso uses the 42mm Grand Taille case; it’s the ideal size for a Reverso. The watch gains its power from classical “golden ratio” proportions and Art Deco detailing. Consider the hand-engraved horizontal “gadroons” that articulate the top and bottom of the revolving case; they’re the spitting image of 1931.
Both dials feature contrasting color and guilloche finish. The silver local time dial employs full black Arabic numerals and heat-blued baton hands to trace the hours, minutes and seconds of the day; clous de Paris guilloche is reserved for the center of the dial.
On the reverse side, the reference time is set upon a black backdrop and traced by fully-lumed sword hands. The contrast with the local dial is accentuated by a 24-hour “Night/Day” subdial and an inverted gulloche pattern that sees the diagonal cross-hatching distributed outside of the hour track; a unique rose-engine pattern at the center of each reference dial completes the differentiation from the local time readout.
While the most recent examples of the Reverso Duo feature a travel time corrector that protrudes awkwardly from the case flank on the dial side, the original models – this example included – rely on a more discreet dimple pusher. The original system better preserves the critical proportions of the classic Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso case.
See this Jaeger-LeCoultre Reverso Duo in polished stainless steel on:
https://www.thewatchbox.com/watches/jaeger-lecoultre
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/watchbox/
WatchBox Reviews Channel:
https://www.youtube.com/WatchBoxReviews
Video and content by Tim Mosso
